fmirandam

The Consulate in Brazil states that they will mail the passport and she will receive it in at most 7 working days. A lot of people I know said that receiving it is super fast after the approval, and they got it in less than 2 weeks. So I guess you will be receiving it on time. As soon as they get hands on the birth certificate, they will send it out. But you should call them today or tomorrow to make sure they received the birth certificate.

My fiance and step-daughter went to their K-1 visa interview on June 28th in RIo de Janeiro, Brazil. The embassy woman said they had been approved and that their passports and packet would come in the mail. After, the brazilian secretary said my step-daughter's birth control needed a better copy, although we had an authenticated original copy she said we needed to send another original copy. The immigration american woman then agreed and said they needed to wait for an original copy to arrive to them before sending out their passports.

We sent it immediately and should arrive at the embassy tomorrow July 13. Anyone have any estimates now how long it will take them to process this and for us to get their visas. I bought their plane tickets for August 12 and now am regretting buying the tickets so soon but due to the olympics in Brazil the prices kept going up and I was agraid that if I didn't buy them early we would miss out.

My step-daughter's school in the U.S. starts on August 24 and we are very concerned. Any help out there with timeline?

I had to take the dtap at a private clinic when I did my medical, the dts I've taken for free at the posto de saude were not enough

You are right. I had taken the dtap previously so I forgot about that one. The dtap is easy to find at a private clinics. They only give you this one at posto de saúde if you are pregnant.

My wife got approved on July 1St. At the medical in Rio doctor said flu shot was not needed. They are waiving everyone. You will be fine.

They probably waived your wife because we were having a shortage of flu vaccines, since everyone was worried about H1N1. But I think after the shortage, they might require it again (although I can't say for sure). In any case, I decided to take because I didn't want to delay receiving my medical results.

Hey guys! How are you doing?

while I wait for the process to go through I'm taking care of my vaccines. The list i got from the consulate doctor had 4 vaccines as mandatory for my age: TD (tetanus), MMR, Influenza and varicella. I got some questions about a couple of them. I already got the TD and varicella, those are fine, but I cannot find the Influenza one, because it says it is the seasonal one, which here in Brazil is H1n1, and the doctor says its not this one. Do you know if theres a specific name for that shot? And also, MMR, i got the shot when i was 1 year old. Do I need to get it again or its once in a lifetime?

I know each consulate and doctor is different, but I keep asking about this "flu shot" and everybody says something different! I need assistance!! lol

Thank you

Beatriz,

I'm also from Brazil and I was super worried about not having all the vaccines but when I went to the doctor's appointment I did not have to take any new one. I believe MMR should be 2 doses (in Brazil they didn't give 2 doses in the 80's when I was born, so I had recently taken another dose---you can get one for free at posto de saude). I got the flu vaccine and remember that flu season is a different time in Brazil than in other countries!! You can find a 'quadrivalente' flu vaccine that protects against influenza A and B (H1N1 is a subtype of influenza A) and this vaccine will work for immigration. In Brazil a lot of people call this vaccine as H1N1 but it's actually wrong, since H1N1 is only one of the 4 subtypes that it will protect you.

Think it's always better to take more stuff than less stuff with you to the Consulate. Let me know how the medical exam went, going to schedule soon with the same doc in São Paulo, annoying how expensive (in reais) the doctor's visit is. I think the medical is good for a year, so you should be good in any case.

https://www.uscis.gov/news/alerts/uscis-issues-new-policy-form-i-693-report-medical-examination-and-vaccination-record

Medical exam was easy and fast. I had to do an xray and a syphilis blood test. The only location allowed to do it is the Fleury laboratory close to Ibirapuera park. I drove there from the doctor's office and it's not very close. They both cost me around 260 reais (my health insurance is Sulamerica and it wasn't accepted at Fleury). The doctor's appointment was around 640 reais. The sealed package and xray were ready for me to pick up at the doctor's office in less than a week. Good luck! When is your interview?

I am subjected to 2 year rule and I initiated the process last november. I answered "yes" that I was subjected and had not yet fulfilled it ( when filling up the DS-260 question about the fulfilment of the requirement). I was honest about it the whole time and had emailed the NVC asking them to schedule my interview to be after 28th of July 2016. Apparently this information was not passed along to my home country consulate and they gave me an earlier date. I emailed them to reschedule and I got the date of July 29th, which I'm super happy about. I am bringing proof of all days spent in my home country. I technically moved back in June 2014 but because of travelling had to add more days ( I added a total of 48 days including all trips during this period, even vacation related ones). You can message me to see how it goes in the interview. I hope I get approved. Good luck to you all!

Hi. I'm in the same situation. I was also subject to the 2 YR HRR and had to return home. In my experience there is very little information about this rule and how to prove the fullfilment. My lawyer indicated that the 2 years must be completed by the time of the interview at the Consulate. I initiated the Consular process 13 months before the 2 years were done. He said if we received an early interview date, we could reschedule the interview and it would be 60 days later. He also submitted my DS260 before my completion of the 2 years, but was possibly 1-1.5 months early. At this point we are waiting for the interview date. My suggestion is you attend the interview at the Consulate after you've completed the 2 years. This way you should be able to receive your visa. Best of luck to you!! ... Not sure about other people's experience. I would be happy to hear other stories.

Hello everyone! I would appreciate your comments on the following situation.

I was a fulbright scholar and, thus, am subject to 2 year home residency requirement. I have about 4 months left to fulfill the 2 year requirement and I have no problems with that and do plan to fulfill my obligation.

At the same time, my husband is a USC who filed a petition for me, we were previously informed that the process of obtaining CR-1 visa can be initiated before 2 year rule is fulfilled. The only restriction is that the immigrant visa cannot be issued before 2 year rule is fulfilled.

We are currently at a stage of completing DS-260 form. This form has a question - "Are you a former exchange visitor (J) who has not yet fulfilled the two-year foreign residence requirement?"

Frankly speaking - yes, I am, cause I have 4 months more to go. If I answer "yes", then it gives me an option to explain. What is your opinion - if I answer "yes", and then explain that I will fulfill my 2 year home residency requirement by the end of September - will it be good enough?

Or do you think they could deny my visa based on my "yes" answer, and not even bother to look into my explanations? Should we just wait a bit more?

I would appreciate your opinion on the questions above, especially, advice from those who faced similar situation.

We are going through the IR-1 visa through the consulate in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. After reviewing the embassy website we found some, what seems to be, conflicting information regarding police certificates. On the the website it gives tabs of what documents are needed for the interview and there are two for police certificates. One tab says Police Certificates which states that you need one for any place you lived since the age of 16. The other tab says Police Certificates for Brazil which says you only need certificates from places you lived longer than 6 months for the last 5 years.

Has anyone went through processing in Rio that has lived in other countries or states? If so what type of police certificates did you submit?

Although in the past 5 years I haven't been living in Minas Gerais, I was born there and lived there until I was 28. I currently live in Sao Paulo. I have submitted SP and MG police records. I cannot say for sure if they were required but I submitted anyway.

Every time you type something on the form, it changes the bar code on the bottom. So, yes, your hand written words will not be interpreted by the computer. If they don't question it, remember to fix it properly and bring a new version to the interview.

Maybe someone can help me too. I have lived in the US before and I already have a SSN and card. However, it comes with the saying: valid only with work authorization from DHS (or something like that).

Now I have a interview date on July 29 for a CR1 visa in Brazil. I have a job offer to start on September 6. I am wondering if I can use my SSN for that, with the green card stamp being the work authorization, or do I have to first remove the saying on my SS card? I was counting on using my card immediately because I'm afraid the new SS card wouldn't arrive on time to start the job.

Thank you for any help,

Mics

Each file has to be less than 5MB, not all of them combined. I've done the whole process through email. If you have a file that is more than 5MB, you can find online how to reduce its size, just make sure that the quality is not compromised and they can still read.

I didn't include any extra explanation about it in my I130 application. The only time I mentioned it was when I was filling form DS260 (I think yours is a different one) where they specific asked if I had a J1 visa and had not yet completed the 2 years. I responded that yes (I was subjected and hadn't completed it yet) and explained that I was going to complete on July 27. They never really asked me, they even scheduled my interview on June 16th, and I had to reschedule. So I guess is your responsibility to not go to the interview without completing the 2 years.

My interview is on July 29th, feel free to message me after that and I will tell you how it went.

Good luck!

Hi everyone,

I visited the US on a J-1 visa with the 2 year home residence requirement (2yhrr) and that's where me and my fiance met. We are sending our I-129f application next month, cause based on the waiting times of receiving the NOA2 my 2yhrr will be over by the time I have my interview.

We are wondering if USCIS will send an RFE or even deny the petition since I will still be under my J-1 2yhrr when they go through our application?

Should we add a page explaining my J-1 situation and how we are both aware of it, or should we leave out all the references to the J-1 visa from the I-129f packet and only explain it in the interview?

Are you back in your home county? The only moment in the process that they will check if you completed the 2 year home requirement is at the interview. I filled for I130 last november, but I only finish my two year requirement on 27 of July. My interview is scheduled for the 29th of July. Just make sure that you spent 730 days in your home country by the time of the interview. And...remember to not count the days you were out of the country for any reason, even tourism. Good luck!

Hi everyone!

I've applied for a CR1 visa and my case is currently at the consulate. After the case was completed at NVC I did not receive any sort of communication from them or from the consulate in Rio. Because I kept following my case online and knew it had been sent to the Consulate, I decided to email them asking if NVC had passed along all the required information of my visa (short story: I am subject to the 2 year rule from a previous J1 visa and will complete the requirement on July 28th, and I counted every single day in Brazil and have proof of everything). They replied to me saying that they were cancelling my interview. That got me in shock because I didn't know an interview was scheduled on the first place.

After the email cancelling my interview they sent another email with the title Immigration Medical Exam with instructions on how to proceed and saying that my interview was on June 16th. I assumed that this was a mistake but emailed them back inquiring. After a couple of back and forth emails they finally scheduled my interview for 29 of July. The only thing I have was an email appointment, not even an attached letter. Also, no immigration medical exam instructions.

I moved forward and scheduled a doctor's appointment but now I'm wondering if I should have waited for the Immigration Medical Exam email. Any thoughts?

Another question is if I need to send anything to the consulate before the interview. In the interview letter they sent me the link https://br.usembassy.gov/visas/family-immigration/where-to-apply/ . In that website it talks about the DS-260 and how you should send the page with bar code to the consulate. But I'm assuming that the NVC had sent all of this to the consulate, since I filled online and an NVC officer confirmed to me they have received it. Am I right to assume that?

Thank you for any thought on that,

Mics

About your interview, from what I have read, the consulate changed the procedure and now the beneficiary schedule the interview in their system and they no longer schedule interview themselves. Are they still scheduling interviews?

Thank you very much for that, I will add up my days outside the country as well so I could meet the 2 years before the interview.

I think for k1 that is the case, as I heard from a friend of mine. I applied for a CR1 and the consulate schedule it, I have no saying on that.

I agree with you, after the 2 years requirement you don´t need a waiver. About the time you spend abroad, even if you are traveling abroad as a tourist you have to add up this time for the 2 year rule? I did not know about that and this may affect my case. Did you get this information from the Dpt of State website? I did know about the time you spend abroad but I did not know that it applies for tourism as well.

Thank you for your input

I consulted with a immigration lawyer at avvo.com. I was always aware of the two-year home-country physical presence requirement (https://travel.state.gov/content/visas/en/study-exchange/student/residency-waiver.html).I also know a few people from the Fulbright program and the topic has been extensively discussed in a Forum. There is one girl who was not aware of it and went on an interview. Her visa was denied because the officer counted every single one of her trips. However, she is not from Brazil. But I believe that is the standard procedure. You can ask a lawyer at the avvo website, they give free consultations.

I am in the same boat as you but my case is a little easier. I was part of BSMP back in the day. My 2 yr rule finishes in the end of July if this year, so I won´t have any problems(I already got NOA2 for the k1). U can have a waiver from CAPES, since the program period of residence in Brazil is 1 yr only instead of 2yrs(american law). Ask CAPES for a letter stating that u r done with your residency period in BR and then ask the Brazilian embassy for a waiver of the J1 rule(instructions at the BR embassy in Washington website). The embassy sends the request for a waiver to the Dept of State and then u will have to pay a waiver fee. This is not so hard to do, just make sure you call CAPES bc they are slowww answering emails. If at the day of the k1 interview u completed the 2 years period u wont need to do none of that( that is my case and i think it is going to be yours as well). Best of luck!

Why does he need a waiver if he wants to complete his 2 years rule?

The only time you need to show that you have fulfilled the 2 years residency requirement is at the interview!! Waivers are extremely hard to obtain, even with the CAPES letter but if you have received funding from Capes only that might be easier.

Also, make sure that you count the 2 years properly. If you go abroad (anywhere, even in Argentina) for a week, make sure to add this time to your 2 year rule.

I complete my 2 years requirement in July 27th, although I've mentioned many times through the process and asked the consulate in Rio specifically to schedule my interview after that, I got a letter saying that my interview was going to be on June 16th. It's a headache, I had to email them and they cancelled it and now I'm waiting for the new date. My case is a little different than yours because I'm applying to CR1 (since I'm already married) but the 2 years rule doesn't change.

Hi guys!

Me and my fiancé are filling up the K1 visa in June and we are wondering about the service centers, mostly which one our file will be sent. He lives in Florida, and I've heard that could be sent Texas or Vermont. I also heard that they transfer some to California... The last list I got here on the website was posted in 2013 and doesn't include Texas as a service center, and states Vermont being the responsible one for FL applications. I tried other visa and immigration websites but you guys seem to be on top of it better than anyone else.

Can anyone explain us exactly how this process work? We are a little lost and would like to make plans (work and financial), at least a possible date, for the interview, since he is coming for that when it happens.

Thank you so much for all the help! you guys are great!

I would strictly follow the instructions on travel.state.gov since that is the official source of information.

Hi everyone,

I am about to mail out our I-130 packet (just waiting on one last piece!) and in order to prepare myself for the next step with the NVC, I have been looking over the three CR-1 guides that I have found here on the site. (1; 2, last modified July 2015; and 3, last modified August 2013.)

All of the information for compiling the I-130 was pretty uniform across all three guides, but in looking at the information provided for the NVC step, I'm seeing differing and somewhat conflicting information. For example:

One guide says to provide an employment letter as well as pay stubs (recent ones and some from the past three years). Another says one or the other is sufficient, and if you go with pay stubs, you'd only need some from the past 3-6 months. Which is it?

The third guide also talks about a form with two parts, DS-230, but I can find no mention of it elsewhere and I think this information is outdated. (Which is disheartening, because this guide is the most in-depth one of the three.)

Now that I'm about to be moving on to the NVC process, I'm inclined to start following the information found on the travel.state.gov website, as it seems to be pretty well laid out (and helpfully specifies exactly where you need photocopies and where you need originals, something which has been confusing trying to figure out here on VisaJourney).

The only thing the travel.state.gov guide doesn't really help with is what I can or should get around before an NVC case number is applied, and I really would like to be proactive with that. Does anyone have any advice on this, or which of the guides I should be following?

Thank you for any help you may be able to offer!

I also only followed the instructions on travel.state.gov and it was really straightforward and our got approved super fast. But I think it depends on wether you live with your spouse or not. In our case we live together and we got a letter from our landlord stating we had a contract under our names (We got the letter because the lease contract was huge and we really didn't want to pay for a certified translation of such a big document). That was the only proof we sent, together with our marriage certificate (we married in the US a year before filing the petition while already living in my home country).

Hi Stephanie,

I am also from Brazil and my petition I-130 was approved December of 2015, my case went to NVC and I had no problems at all. Right now, when I check the status on https://ceac.state.gov/ it says it is ready for an interview. I have called NVC many times using skype. It is cheap!! You should call them around 8am Brazilian time. When did you send all the required document? What is your current status at https://ceac.state.gov/ ?

I know, im almost pulling my hair out! Only problem is, is that i live with my husband in brazil at the moment, and its super expensive to call them and be waiting on hold for an hour, cuz here we buy phone credits and once they end your phone call is gone, so i cant risk that, its awful, they keep saying its due to high volume of clients that its taking so long, but i see other people already with their visa in the united states and we started at the same time.

I have to figure out how lol sorry

Agree, very strange. Page 3 part 4 is my husband name! Which we did filled of course, but something happened when we printed. I did not see that this tiny thing was printed blank.

I saw someone else here got the exactly same RFE so it makes me believe it could be some sort of PDF issue. I am not positive about it tho.

This is what it says: Form I-864, Affidavit of Support, was submitted; however, Page 3, Part 4 is blank.

=/

I hope it doesn't delay your process!! Good luck!

Hi everyone,

I received a RFE one day after my biometrics asking to resend the form I-864 since I left one part blank (page 3 part 4). I truly believe this was a printing/editing pdf issue, but in any event, I mailed the form again along with all support documentation for affidavit of support the next day. Yesterday my status was updated online to "Response To USCIS' Request For Evidence Was Received".

My question is: will this RFE interfere on my WP process as well? Although I sent everything to USCIS the next morning on a overnight package, took them 1 full week to update my online status. I am afraid it will make my WP process at least one week slower?

I have real potential job opportunities relying only on my WP being produced in time. I know is sort of unpredictable but did anyone been in the same situation and received the WP in the time matters (60 - 90 days)?

Also, is it true that I can ask to have my WP expedited in case I have a job offer on hands?

I highly appreciate any thoughts!

Thanks,

Flavia

It is strange that they requested you to fill part 4 of page 3. If you fill the .pdf on adobe, that part is automatically locked if your physical address is the same as your mailing address.

My husband is also living in Brazil and he filed a I-864 with a zero income exactly for the same reason as you mentioned. We decided to have a joint sponsor because his income was solely from Brazil and obviously would not continue when we move back to the US. With his I-864 he explained why his income is zero in the tax return but is not zero in his I-864. I believe in our situation this amount wouldn't matter much because we are not using it to qualify for sponsorship.

In your case you can provide all available evidence to prove that your income is enough (pay stubs and W2) and a letter explaining the discrepancy in your tax return.

As a US citizen you are require to file taxes even if you live abroad. You should count the income for the whole year, not for the period you were in the US. If you US + Morocco income combined was below the limit for filing taxes then you are good. If not, you should file your taxes for 2014. You can try to get your W2 by email. You will likely not pay any taxes for your income in Morocco but you are required to file anyway.

If your income for the whole year of 2014 was below the required level, the a letter would be ok. But I would absolutely recommend that you try to recover your W2 for 2014.

If you read the instruction to Form I-864, you have

Item Numbers 18.a. - 20. Federal Income Tax Return Information

You must provide either an Internal Revenue Service (IRS) transcript or a photocopy from your own records of your

Federal individual income tax return for the most recent tax year. If you believe additional returns may help you to

establish your ability to maintain sufficient income, you may submit transcripts or photocopies of your Federal individual

income tax returns for the three most recent years.

You should submit only your current income!! We did that!